She became better known as Tania, and left table tennis behind to dedicate herself to her family and her own business. But one day, in the midst of the pandemic, she was able to return to her old passion.
Now, at 58, she will be able to fulfil her “lifelong dream” of competing in the Olympic Games.
“I never imagined (that I would make it to the Olympics) because I took it up for fun, to do some sport, I never thought that anything serious would come out of it. But I gained confidence, playing a lot and, as I always won, I liked to play more and more,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press from the Olympic Training Center in Santiago, days before embarking on a trip to Europe for a preparation camp.
Zeng became one of the biggest names in the host country of the 2023 Pan American Games, where she won a bronze after more than three decades away from the sport. Although she took up paddle tennis again as a way to stay active during the pandemic, her skill, discipline and experience made her have a meteoric rise to the top of Chilean sport.
“Qualifying for the Olympics is a huge, gigantic dream, and being able to achieve it at that age is a huge joy,” said Zeng, who will make her debut at the Paris Games as the oldest athlete in her delegation.
Originally from the southern Chinese city of Foshan, Zeng has always had sport in her DNA. As a child, she used to accompany her mother, a local coach, to table tennis practice.
Little by little she began to lean towards the sport and for a decade she performed as a high-performance player.
But his life took a turn in 1989, when in search of new adventures he decided to cross an entire ocean to teach classes to young athletes in Arica, in the far north of Chile — the same year in which China was immersed in the turbulent street protests that culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Shortly after, she got married, started a family and moved to Iquique, also in northern Chile. There she put table tennis aside to dedicate herself to opening her own business, thanks to which she learned and perfected her Spanish and put down roots in Chile. Until the pandemic arrived and, with it, the lockdown.
“I was at home, I had nothing to do and I wanted to do some sport. And then I thought ‘why not play table tennis?’ It’s always been my thing, I know a lot about it and so I started to take up the racket again,” said the current world number 151.
She quickly joined the national team, where she captivated Chilean fans by making history at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games. Zeng became famous overnight after beating Dominican Eva Peña Brito 4 sets to 2 in her debut in the singles tournament.
Although she lost to American Lily Ann Zhang in the second round, leaving her off the individual podium, she won the bronze medal in the group competition, together with Paulina Vega and Daniela Ortega.
Since then, she has devoted herself entirely to table tennis and divided her life between Iquique and Santiago, buoyed by her appetite for the game and the affection of her fans: “Everyone knows me, they greet me, they want a photo and for me it is just joy,” she says with a laugh.
The love affair is apparently reciprocal: “I am already Chilean in heart and soul, in everything, they are going to bury me here.”
Now Zeng will return to the field, this time with more experience and the same determination, eager to fulfill a “lifelong” dream that for many decades remained alive only in the imagination: competing in the Olympic Games.
Although she admitted to some initial misgivings about her health — “Any wrong move could cause me to get injured and that worries me a lot” — Zeng says she is calm because of the close support provided by the team’s trainers.
His age is not an impediment to his relationship with his teammates, most of whom are young children, with whom he nevertheless trains and competes “as equals.”
And from July 26, it’s not just Chileans who will be glued to the television to accompany their favorite Olympic grandmother. From China, Zeng’s brother and her 92-year-old father will closely follow her journey at the world’s top sporting event in Paris.
“My 92-year-old dad is glued to the TV. When he found out he had qualified, he jumped out of his chair, shouting… imagine, a 92-year-old man,” said the Olympian, with a smile that does not hide the pride and satisfaction of being on the select list of the world’s sporting elite.
“And he immediately told me: ‘It was your lifelong dream, and now it’s come true. Wow, go all out’,” he adds.
Zeng will go all out. If on the court the body of an older age could mean a physical disadvantage against faster and more agile rivals, perhaps his greatest ace up his sleeve is this wisdom and serenity that only time is capable of building.
“Sport is not easy and requires sacrifice,” he says. “Sport is for the strong.”
Source: AP
